each other’s eye.
‘We must conclude, yes?’ Weiss spoke in a murmur. ‘I have only one more suggestion – it’s little more than a thought – but it occurs to me that a murderer of this type might have found protection, or rather anonymity, in some unorthodox way of life, outside the law.’
‘You mean he might be a criminal… a professional?’ Sinclair was momentarily arrested by the notion. But then he shook his head. ‘No
… no, I don’t think so. We have many sources in that world. If a killer like this had been at large, we would have heard of it. More than that: he’d have been given up.’
‘No doubt you are right.’ But the doctor seemed unconvinced. ‘Nevertheless, he has managed to survive somehow, and it might be as well if you considered the possibility that he has found some form of employment suited to his nature, one that has served as a disguise and has prevented him from coming to your notice.’
‘Suited to his nature! Surely not.’ Afraid that Helen might appear at any moment, Sinclair kept his voice low. But he spoke forcefully. ‘Just think what you’re saying, doctor. This is a killer of children!’
‘Yes, of course. But you misunderstand me.’ Distressed at the way his words had been taken, Weiss leaned closer. ‘I’m suggesting you look at the broader picture. The savagery of his crimes tells us something about the man; something important. This is a creature devoid of all moral restraints: one surely capable of other, equally ruthless acts. Other crimes.’
‘I understand what you’re saying, sir.’ Hearing the sound of approaching steps, Sinclair leaned forward in turn. ‘But where does that leave us? What place could he possibly have found for himself?’
‘That I cannot tell you.’ With a sigh, the doctor shook his head. ‘All I can do is urge you not to dismiss the notion.’ Dropping his voice still further, he peered at the chief inspector through the deepening shadows. ‘We may wish it were otherwise, but the world has a use for such men. It has always been so.’
PART TWO
10
‘This will have to be brief, Chief Inspector. I’ve a meeting in Whitehall in half an hour.’
Assistant Commissioner Bennett ushered Sinclair to a chair in front of his desk. He took note of his purposeful air.
‘You’ve spoken to your colleagues in Surrey and Sussex, I take it? They’re happy about us moving in?’
‘Quietly ecstatic would be closer to the mark, sir.’ Sinclair settled himself without delay. He’d come in haste from his office. ‘This case is going to be the very devil to crack. Nobody seems sure what to do next.’
Before he could say more the door opened and the reassuring bulk and rubicund features of Arthur Holly appeared.
‘Come in, Chief Superintendent.’ Bennett gestured to a second chair. ‘You’ve heard the news, I imagine?’
‘Angus rang me a moment ago, sir.’ Holly nodded to the chief inspector. ‘So they’ve found another one? Near Bognor Regis, I understand?’
‘That’s right. The Sussex police uncovered the body two days ago. The chief constable got in touch with us overnight. This is now officially a Yard case. Mr Sinclair will be in charge from our end and will keep us informed on a regular basis. Where do we stand now, Chief Inspector? Briefly, if you would. There’s no doubt, is there, that it’s linked to the Brookham business?’
‘None at all, sir.’ Sinclair had his file already opened on his lap. ‘Both girls were raped and strangled, faces destroyed in the same manner in post-mortem assaults. However, there was one difference.’ He glanced up. ‘The body found near Bognor Regis showed traces of chloroform in the lungs. It’s presumably what he used to immobilize her.’
‘There was no mention of that in the Brookham report.’ Bennett frowned.
‘No, but I’ve had a word with Dr Galloway – the pathologist who dealt with the body – and he points out that the killer in that instance drowned the girl as well as strangled her. It’s quite possible that any traces of chloroform in her lungs or what was left of her nasal passages could have been washed away.’
Bennett grunted. ‘Go on, Chief Inspector.’
‘Now, as regards the weapon employed for the facial assaults, Galloway has plumped for a hammer, and I gather the Sussex doctor’s of the same opinion. Mind you, his cadaver is in rather worse condition.’
‘Why’s that?’ Holly intervened.
‘Of course – you don’t know, Arthur.’ Sinclair turned to his colleague. ‘The murder in Sussex pre-dates the Brookham killing, by as much as a month. That’s according to medical opinion, and it’s confirmed by the time of her disappearance, which was late July. Her body was found on the coast near Bognor Regis – the girl’s name was Marigold Hammond, by the way. It’s a flat, fairly empty stretch of shoreline and the corpse was buried in a shallow grave in a patch of reeds and scrubland, covered with loose earth and pebbles – the beaches are shingled there – no more than fifty yards from the sea. Once again he took pains to hide the body. We were lucky at Brookham. The corpse was found within hours, thanks to Madden.’ The chief inspector’s face darkened. ‘I only wish we’d used the time better. The Surrey police have spent the past month looking for that blasted tramp. What’s more they still have to find him.’
‘Because he might be a witness, you mean?’ Holly put the question.
‘Exactly. In fact, the more I think about John’s reading of the murder site, the more convinced I am that he was right. It’s odds on this Beezy actually caught sight of the killer. That’s why he ran for it, dropping some of his belongings on the way. God alone knows where he is now. Not in our hands, that’s for certain.’ The chief inspector glowered. He caught Bennett’s eye.
‘Yes, sir, I’m sorry. Briefly, then, all we can say for sure about our killer at this stage is that he’s not Beezy – who was in Surrey for all of July, moving about within a relatively small area, and who’s most unlikely to have had a bottle of chloroform about his person – and that in all likelihood he owns a car. In hindsight, it seems probable that both girls were picked up on the road – one between Brookham and Craydon, the other near Bognor Regis. How he persuaded them to get into his car we can only speculate, but once there he could have used the chloroform to render them senseless.’
As Sinclair paused to clear his throat, Holly interrupted.
‘You say she vanished in July, the girl at Bognor Regis. Have the police been searching for her since then?’
‘The answer to that question is no, Arthur. Though you may well ask it. The child wasn’t even reported missing until a week ago. It’s an extraordinary story. Believe it if you can.’ The chief inspector shook his head. ‘Her parents are circus people. Not performers, her mother runs a sideshow, but they travel all over the south coast during the summer months and they happened to be at Bognor Regis when the child went missing. Except it wasn’t recognized as such at the time. She’d had a row with her mother and the man they were living with – the girl’s father had gone off some time before, he doesn’t figure in this – and announced that she was leaving to go and spend some time with an aunt of hers who worked in another circus that was performing in Eastbourne at the time. It was something she’d done before, apparently, and for much the same reason.
‘Before?’ The chief superintendent was incredulous. ‘And how old was this girl? Twelve or so?’
‘No… and that’s an interesting point.’ Sinclair tugged at an earlobe. ‘Marigold Hammond was fourteen, but she looked younger. This killer seems drawn to girls before they reach puberty.’ He caught Holly’s look. ‘Yes, I know, Arthur, even fourteen seems too young, but all I can tell you is it doesn’t seem to have bothered her mother when she packed a suitcase and announced she was off to catch the bus to Eastbourne.’
‘But when she didn’t hear from her…?’
‘There again…’ Sinclair shook his head in despair. ‘We have to understand… these people live their lives differently from you and me. They’ve no telephone to ring up with, and I doubt they correspond by letter. Mrs Hammond just assumed her daughter had joined up with her aunt in Eastbourne and only discovered six weeks later that she’d never appeared there, at which point she reported her missing. The circus she was with had moved on to Devon by then, but she came back to Bognor Regis to help the police, who began searching right away. It took
